First Nations University of Canada

This paper examines the impact of community-led land-based camps as a decolonial methodology for climate disaster adaptation in northern Saskatchewan and Alberta. Centering Cree and Dene-speaking communities, the study draws from intergenerational story-sharing, Elder-led story-sharing, and spiritual practices to examine how land-based knowledge and practice address forest fires, water disruptions, and biodiversity loss. The findings of this study show the strong interconnections between land, language, mental health, identity, and resilience. Land-based camps emerge as sites of survival, cultural knowledge, and educational sovereignty, countering colonial governance and extractive climate policies. Through experiential learning, Indigenous-led research, and community-defined ethics, the camps support climate justice grounded in relational accountability and knowledge sovereignty. This chapter calls for recognizing Indigenous land-based pedagogy not as supplemental but as foundational to reimagining disaster research and policy. It advocates for institutional shifts that prioritize Indigenous governance, spiritual continuity, and land as both method and knowledge system.

one year after the Voice referendum, a group of 10 Indigenous researchers gathered on Kabi Kabi Country at Marcoola, on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia, for a research writing workshop where they responded to a series of objects focused on the Uluru Statement from the Heart and the Australian Voice referendum; the objects were curated within the writing space.This offered the focus for their thoughts, feelings, discussions, and collaboration on a written research output.They collectively wrote a poem

Abstract This article examines the implementation of Bill C‐92: An Act Respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis Children, Youth and Families, which affirms the inherent right of Indigenous Peoples to self‐govern in child and family services. Through qualitative analysis of 11 First Nations laws enacted between 2021 and 2024, the study explores how communities are developing governance structures, ratifying laws, and engaging members in law‐making. Findings reveal diverse models—from Band Council‐led systems to Indigenous Governing Bodies under Section 35 of the Constitution Act—with varying levels of cultural integration and transparency. Five case studies highlight approaches grounded in traditional knowledge, language revitalization, and relational governance. The article discusses tensions between delegated authority under the Indian Act and inherent rights, alongside challenges related to funding and capacity. It concludes with recommendations to strengthen Indigenous‐led governance rooted in Indigenous legal traditions, languages, and community‐defined child and family wellbeing.

There is a movement across settler–colonial institutions of education and research to engage with Indigenous Peoples and Knowledges. Many settler and Indigenous governments are pursuing pathways to move forward together to address global problems such as climate change. However, given the pervasive history of exploitation and displacement of Indigenous communities, this development has caused some concern among Indigenous leaders and scholars. At the 2022 Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America (ESA) in Montreal, Canada, the Traditional Ecological Knowledge Section of the ESA hosted a 2‐day workshop. This gathering of 21 Indigenous environmental scientists included scholars from across the career and professional spectrum. By consensus, workshop participants identified three emergent themes—Engage, Heal, and Reconcile—that provide a pathway toward reconciliation between Indigenous and settler–colonial ways of knowing. This path allows for an ever‐greater sharing of institutional resources and power toward a co‐equal interfacing of Indigenous Knowledges and settler science.

Indigenous perspectives regarding disability are underrepresented in scholarly literature. This article profiles traditional perspectives and contemporary experiences regarding disability through voices from the lands of the Nisg ̱ a’a Nation. Influenced by Indigenous theory, this case study is based on semi-structured interviews with six diverse Indigenous community leaders including Simgigat (Hereditary Chiefs) and Sigidim Haanaḵ’ (Matriarchs). Four themes emerged: (1) Indigenous laws and cultural protocols enact principles of equity and inclusion; (2) language, kinship, and culture inform Indigenous perspectives regarding disability; (3) the gift of disability is celebrated through storytelling; and (4) colonization has negatively impacted disability for Indigenous Peoples. In addition, this study demonstrates that further research is needed on contemporary and historical disability policy in the Indian Act and disabilities in the context of Indian Residential Schools. This research considers the imposition of Western and colonially constructed disability identities while demonstrating that Indigenous knowledges, traditions, and practices are crucial to decolonizing understandings of disability in Canada and around the world.

Background:First Nations people in Canada are overrepresented among those who have undergone nontraumatic lower extremity amputation, and are more likely to be younger, have diabetic foot infections and have no previous revascularization procedures than non–First Nations populations who have undergone lower extremity amputations. We sought to identify access barriers for high-risk First Nations patients, explore patients’ experiences with health care systems and identify solutions.Methods:Employing a community participatory research design, we engaged representatives from 2 communities. They assisted with research design and data analysis, and approved the final manuscript. Using a hermeneutic phenomenological approach and purposeful sampling, we conducted 5 semistructured focus groups between August and December 2021 with community health care teams and patients at risk for, or who had previously undergone, a nontraumatic lower extremity amputation.Results:Patients’ (n = 10) and community health care providers’ (n = 18) perspectives indicated that barriers to health care access led to delayed care and increased complications and risk for lower extremity amputations, leading to aggressive procedures upon receiving care. Barriers to care led to negative experiences at urban centres and aggressive procedures created further distrust, leading to care disengagement and poor outcomes. Patients and providers both suggested building stronger partnerships between urban and rural health care providers, improving education for patients and health care providers and identifying innovative strategies to improve patients’ overall health.Interpretation:Systemic changes, health promotional program and reliable on-reserve primary care are needed to create equitable access for First Nation patients at risk for lower extremity amputations. The study results imply that health care delivery for First Nations patients at risk for lower extremity amputations can be improved through stronger partnership and communication between urban and community providers, and continued education and cultural competency training for urban health care providers.